The Office of the Secretary of Education and the Arts on behalf of the Governor’s STEM Initiative, recently approved mini-grant funding to five Kanawha County schools. The mini-grant program supports learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math across the state. Schools were awarded up to $3,000 to implement their STEM project. The following Kanawha County School projects were funded:

School

Brief project description

Herbert Hoover High School

Flash Flood Water Level Sensor

HHHS students will construct homemade water sensors from scratch using circuit boards, oscillators, sensors and wiring. The sensors will be wired to mini solar panels to obtain their power. These sensors will be tested in the classroom using different weather variables and conditions (bank erosion, velocity of water, floating debris, etc) to make sure they can monitor and withstand the different elements. Students will also code the sensors to send SMS messages to cell phones alerting residents of rising water levels. Students will run a test, analyze the data, and place them along the Elk River to monitor and track the progress. The overall goal for the project is to provide the community with some sort of alert system that will notify them of rising waters.

Holz Elementary

Holz Coding Club & Wonder League Robotics Competition

The school will purchase VEX IQ robots, accessories and a competition field that can be used this year in an afterschool coding club. The students will first build the robots, then they will learn to control them with both a remote controller that they program as well as a coding app on the iPad called Modkit for VEX. This uses a drag and drop type programming to control their robots' movements and actions. This year they will learn all about building and coding the robots and next school year, Holz will be involved in the county-wide VEX IQ robotics competitions.

Mary Ingles Elementary

Robotics Club

Mary Ingles Elementary’s robotics club will purchase a new robot so that more students will be able to participate in club activities. They will purchase a competition field and game elements to practice for the VEX IQ Challenge competitions. The money will also cover one robot’s registration fee and three competition fees.

Montrose Elementary

Picture-Perfect Science Exploration

This grant will provide opportunities for exploration and enrichment for 5th graders and in turn, those students teach the basic concepts of the lesson to their 2nd grade science buddies by reading a relevant picture book and then completing a science project.

Sissonville High School

Leadership STEM Challenge

The grant will be used to purchase 10 SeaPerch Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) kits. Students in Sissonville High School’s leadership course will use the kits and further personalize their ROV to compete in an underwater challenge.

The funds were announced by the Office of Education and the Arts. A total of $200,000 was approved for 84 projects across the state – five within the Kanawha County Schools system. The Governor's STEM Initiative, within the Office of Education and the Arts, works to support STEM education opportunities for West Virginia students in order to fuel their interest in STEM professions and increase the number of graduates in these fields.